South Africa’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development

1. South Africa’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development Presentation to Parliamentary Portfolio Committee 20 June 2006, Cape Town

2. Presentation Overview • Introduction and Background • Executive Summary • NSSD Chapter outline • A national vision for sustainable development • Why do we need a National Strategy for Sustainable Development? • Trends and implications • Priority Areas fro Strategic Intervention • Making it happen- Action Plan • Process of completing the NSSD

3. Introduction and Background • Background to and mandate on NSSD • WSSD Follow-up strategy from Cabinet in September 2002 • FOSAD Decision in August 20054 mandating DEAT and DFA to lead • Cabinet approval of NSSD framework and DEAT to coordinate the NSSD in January 2005 • The process so far • 4 Multistakeholder Workshops and 3 NGO workshops • 3 Business Roundtables • International review ( Brazil, India, China, Russia and Germany • 3 Government Steering Committee Workshops • 2 Academic Review panel • UNISA, UWC, Univen, Wits, UCT, Stellenbosch, Pretoria) • 2 Calls for Submissions • Bilaterals • Other Policy Processes • NSDP review • IDP Review • Intergovernmental Fiscal Review

4. NSSD Chapter outline • Foreword by the Presidency and Introduction by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism • Executive Summary • A National Vision for Sustainable Development • Trends and Implications • Critical cross-cutting trends • Natural resources trends • Economic trends • Social trends • Governance Trends • Implications of the trends analysis • Identifying NSSD priority areas for strategic intervention • Sustaining our Ecosystem and using natural resources efficiently • Investing sustainable infrastructure • Creating sustainable communities • Enhancing systems for integrated planning • Building capacity for sustainable development • Making it Happen- Towards an action plan • Annexure • Annex 1: Summary of strategic interventions • Annex 2: Potential sustainability indicators

5. Executive Summary Vision and Principles

6. Executive Summary Why do we need an NSSD • Rationale • The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) from the 2002 WSSD Paragraph 162: “States should take immediate steps to make progress in the formulation and elaboration of national strategies for sustainable development and begin their implementation by 2005.” • South Africa’s SD paradigm is integral to our 2014 vision and beyond, and explicitly recognises and acknowledges the context and constraints that decision-makers must take into account when policies are adopted aimed at growing the economy, sustaining the natural resource base and meeting basic social and human needs. • Value • Inform, improve and guide cross-sectoral policy implementation and integration; • Consolidate monitoring and evaluation systems; • Inform the decision-making capacity for spatial development; • Inform longer-term policy formulation processes; and • Improve and harness interactions between government and society.

7. Executive Summary Trends and Implications – Natural Resource Trends • We need to act rapidly and decisively to change a number of natural resource trends that threaten to undermine investments in growth and poverty eradication. The increasing effects of climate change and the rapidly rising oil price pose major risks to our current development path. From a natural resources perspective, further constraints are imposed on economic growth by the following trends: • The threat of water shortages • Rising unrecycled levels of solid waste disposal resulting in declining soil quality • Loss and degradation of biodiversity as natural habitat in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. • The threats to coastal and marine resources • The connections between mineral extraction and socio-ecological development • The nature and impact of qualitative declines in air quality

8. Executive Summary Trends and Implications – Economic Trends • The South African economy, as measured by standard macro-economic indicators, is relatively stable. The economy is also experiencing the longest period of economic expansion in the country’s recorded historyy. A number of negative trends in energy, capacity and resource inefficiency may reveres this positive economic stability • Increase energy demand and limited electricity generation • Unsustainable household consumption levels • Constraints on rising fiscal expenditures caused by capacity limitations • Ways to ensure that infrastructure expenditures to raise the levels of fixed investment increase efficiencies via the use of sustainable resource use technologies • The selection, funding and management of ‘second economy’ interventions that expand employment, create assets, build the skills base and contribute to solving social problems. • Inappropriate levels of investment in science and technology and research and development programmes

9. Executive Summary Trends and Implications – Social Trends • The quality of life of the majority of South African citizens has improved. However, there are significant threats that contradict these positive trends and could, if not countered, overwhelm these positive trends. Large sections of society remain imprisoned in the poverty trap of the Second Economy; and racial profiles persist in terms of ownership and control of wealth, access to social services and public opinion on public policy issues. • Dynamic change, both materially and spiritually, and an increasing sense of an over-arching identity and of social cohesion. • Serious challenges include making a much more significant impact on poverty , HIV and AIDS, malaria and TB. • Reduce hunger and unacceptably high levels of child mortality. • Improve access to sanitation, which is currently at approximately 65%. An increasing percentage of people now live urban slums , due to urbanisation and shrinking household sizes. • Tackling youth unemployment is a pressing priority.

10. Executive Summary Trends and Implications – Governance Trends • While governance is generally felt to be coherent, particular challenges for government relate to capacity and resource constraints at the local municipal level. At all levels, we need to enhance capacity for cross-sectoral coordination and transdisciplinary thinking, as well as the mechanisms for integrating environmental considerations into sectoral policy and activities. Monitoring and evaluation systems need to be consolidated and fine-tuned so that they can better measure progress towards sustainability. • . • Civil society organisations need to be strengthened to enhance their ability to monitor government and to interact on a more equal footing with the private sector. • The private sector has been rapidly building capacity for measuring its sustainability impacts, but few independent monitors exist to adjudicate these claims. • All three sectors, however, require considerable education and awareness raising with respect to an understanding of sustainable development and the implications for policy making.

11. Executive Summary Priority Areas for Strategic Intervention • Based on an analysis of the trends identified above, with their associated risks and opportunities, and the implications of these trends, the NSSD identifies the need to focus on the following priority areas for strategic intervention: • . • Sustaining our ecosystems and using natural resources efficiently • Investing in sustainable infrastructure • Creating sustainable communities • Enhancing systems for integrated planning • Building capacity for sustainable development

12. Making it Happen … • Maintain a positive political momentum and high-level commitment • Identify a political champion for the NSSD • Strengthen the legislative oversight and the role of parliament • 2. Strengthen the existing institutional structures, national coordination mechanisms • Cluster system and Stakeholder Engagement • 3. Develop national development priorities, targets, time frames and deadlines to elaborate on the identified set of strategic interventions, • MTSF 2005 – 2010; • Business Commitments , Civil Society Actions and Partnerships • JPOI and MDG Implemenation Plans • 4. Mobilise the necessary means of implementation • National budget framework • Human Resources and Skills Strategy. • National Science and Technology for Development Strategy

13. Making it Happen .cont • 6. Intensive stakeholder participation process to communicate the NSSD and to receive input into the next steps for the implementation of the NSSD. • Appropriate mechanisms to ensure continuous social dialogue. • Develop a knowledge network. • 7. Identify specific activities, tools, policies, measures and monitoring and assessment mechanisms • Sector Policy review • Streamlining and improve of various cooperative governance structures. • 8. Ensure monitoring and evaluation processes • Improved GWEMS • SD Indicators • Periodic review of NSSD • 9. Put in practice measures to pilot, test and implement a set of high level initiatives, which respond to the identified five focus areas for strategic intervention.

14. Annexure • Annex 1: Summary of strategic interventions • Annex 2: Selected potential sustainability indicators • social sustainability indicators • Selected potential economic sustainability indicators • Selected potential environmental sustainability indicators • Selected potential institutional sustainability indicators • Annex 3: Bibliography • Annex 4: Acknowledgements

15. Process of Completing the NSSD • 1. Final Draft Version • Publish for Public Comment in July • Incorporate public Comments in early August • DEAT DG /DDG reference groups and Bilaterals • Gazette for Public Comment – Closure 10July • 2.Further consultations – During Gazette Period • 3 Stakeholder Workshops • Business Roundtable • Local government Workshop ( Convened by SALGA, SA Cities Network) • Discussion in NEDLAC • Bilaterals • 3. Approval by Intergovernmental System • Economic and Investment Cluster • Cabinet approval • 4.Further Elaboration of NSSD Action Plans • September

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